


Bitter Fruit

by d_wolpertinger, ja55, punklobster, Sappho82



Category: citrus - サブロウタ | citrus - Saburouta
Genre: Angst, Cheating, Drama, F/F, Infidelity, Same-Sex Marriage, hop on this angst train with us
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 12:07:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 6,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20620769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d_wolpertinger/pseuds/d_wolpertinger, https://archiveofourown.org/users/ja55/pseuds/ja55, https://archiveofourown.org/users/punklobster/pseuds/punklobster, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sappho82/pseuds/Sappho82
Summary: Mei discovers that her wife cheated on her. Yuzu slept with Harumi. This fic explores the aftermath and consequences of Yuzu cheating on Mei.Each separate chapter is written by d_wolpertinger, punklobster, Ja55 and Sappho82. We wrote these as part of our 30 Day Writing Prompt Challenge. They are compiled here.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is by d_wolpertinger. She wrote the first "cheating fic" during our Challenge.

This feeling. 

It’s a feeling worse than death. Standing in the doorway of the bedroom, with the hallway light creeping inside the more she pushes the door open, she lets it consume her. Slowly drowning, this feeling is filling inside her lungs every time she breathes in.

The occupants in the bed shuffle clumsily to find their clothes, trying to give themselves a measure of decency, while Mei can only stand there in some sort of sedated shock over what is transpiring. Her hand is still lingering on the handle. The scrambling, the noises, everything that is going on in that room is but white noise against the sound of her heart breaking. Their movements are a blur because that feeling has overridden everything, eliciting a burning sensation in the back of Mei's eyes.

It's so strange.

What is happening to her? It’s destroying parts of her, precious things that she held so dear, and leaving her empty like a bottomless pit. Any instance of happiness that she had - leaving the Academy early for once and fixing her bangs in the reflection on the train to look nice for her - is gone. Obliterated out of existence. How could a heart break so easily after being built up with love and trust after so many years?

How? It wasn’t the extra pair of heels, or when she walked towards their room while hearing those particular muffled moans that did it. No. It was the second she opened that door and saw Yuzu’s exquisite backside, a beautiful fresco of curves and skin, naked and glistening in a light sweat, on top of someone else. Moving and making those sounds only meant for her. Only to be done to her.

Mei can’t put it into words - the moment she looks into the eyes of the person that is supposed to love her, who is supposed to make her feel safe. It only takes an instance, meeting Yuzu’s shameful surprise in those beautiful hazel eyes, to know how fickle love can be. How easily trust can fall like a house of cards when even the most faithful of creatures can succumb to unfaithful temptations.

How fear and betrayal can coil around a heart and constrict it like a snake until nothing is left but a ripped and open mess. Maggots cannot burrow deeper into a corpse than this feeling, now becoming a part of Mei.

There is no chance of ever going back to how things were. 

"Mei-" Yuzu opens her mouth to explain, only part way dressed, when Mei takes a step inside.

"-I'm sorry, I-"

Another step. People say broken things can be mended but in all honesty that is a lie. There is no going back. Simpler actions have changed the course of history, and this is no different.

"I'm so sorry."

Another step. Whatever semblance of Mei that had grown to love someone with all of who she was, is gone, swallowed into the sheets of the disheveled bed between them. Similar to how a creature of the night drags and kills its prey gruesomely, with only feral instinct; betrayal is a cruel huntress.

And once something is dead it cannot be brought back to life.

Mei's voice is but a harsh whisper through gritted teeth in case tears overpower her words. This feeling is constricting her throat, making it so painful for her to say. But there is no going back. 

“Get out, Yuzu.”

There is no going back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is by punklobster. This is an alternate scene of Mei discovering Yuzu's cheating.

Yuzu’s hand hovered over the doorknob to her apartment for a long moment. When she grasped it, the door rattled on its hinges from the force of her shaking limb. She chewed on her lip before wrenching the door open, like ripping off a bandaid. 

“Mei, I-” Yuzu paused in stunned silence at the sight that greeted her within their shared apartment. Candlelight bathed the walls in soft romantic lighting. The strings of music played quietly out of a wireless speaker, and the smell of freshly cooked food filled her nose.

None of that compared to the sight of her wife, dressed elegantly in a way only she could pull off, standing by the entrance as though she had been waiting for Yuzu’s arrival. “Welcome home, Yuzu.” 

“Mei…” The blonde greeted, still absorbing everything. “What is all of this?” 

Mei approached Yuzu, taking her hand and pulling her inside. She didn’t comment on Yuzu’s trembling fingers. They had been avoiding each other for so long, the touch was a shock. 

“This is for you.” She gestured to the set table, food already spooned onto their plates and steaming hot. 

“I didn’t forget an anniversary or something, did I?” Yuzu tried to joke, but she grimaced at the possibility. 

Mei gently guided Yuzu into her seat, reassuring. “You didn’t forget anything,” she said, a thread of nervousness weaved into her calm voice. “I simply wanted to do something for you.” 

Yuzu stared at the table, willing herself not to cry. Mei must’ve come home earlier from work to set all of this up. The dinner, one of the recipes Yuzu had taught her diligently until Mei memorized it. It was thoughtful and lovely. “You didn’t have to--”

“Yes, I did,” Mei interjected softly, yet firm in conviction. She sat down opposite Yuzu, gathering herself. “After our last… argument, I realized something.” 

Yuzu was shaking her head, the swoop in her belly yawning wider the more Mei spoke. “Mei, I need to--”

“Let me finish,” Mei pushed. “You were right at that time. I haven’t been around as much as I should, and… I am sorry. I will be better because you deserve the best from me.” 

The tears Yuzu couldn’t hold back anymore. She covered her mouth with her hand to hold back a sob, and she felt Mei grasp her hand in an attempt to comfort her. 

“Is something wrong?” Mei sounded concerned, worried that it was something she had said or done. “Whatever it is, tell me.” Her hand squeezed Yuzu’s, rubbing her ring finger. “Whatever it is, we can get through it. Together.” 

“Mei--” Yuzu’s voice not only cracked but broke apart like a dropped glass. “I have to tell you something.” Yuzu lifted her eyes, red-rimmed from whatever was distressing her and lack of sleep. “L-last week, after our fight, I went to Harumin’s. And…” Yuzu took one last steadying breath and looked away, unable to maintain eye contact. “And we had sex.” 

Mei let go of Yuzu’s hand. The temperature of the room dropped several degrees colder, faster than their food cooled down. 

“It was a mistake. I was weak and angry, and I don’t know what I was thinking. I just can’t keep it from you any longer, its been killing me these last few days, I...” 

Yuzu heard Mei wordlessly gathering their full dishes. Dumped their contents into the trash bin.

“Mei, I am _so _, so sorry,” Yuzu begged, falling apart at the seams. Her tears wouldn’t stop coming, but she still couldn’t look at her wife. Like a coward. She felt so small that the world could and should swallow her up, voice drowning out uselessly for all the good she was doing. 

She heard Mei turn on the sink and start rinsing the dishes. Silent as a graveyard. Yuzu didn’t know if this, or Mei screaming at her was more terrifying a thought. 

“Mei, please... say something. Anything.” 

A dish shattered against the floor, making Yuzu’s whole body and soul flinch. Hesitantly looking up to make sure her wife (if she was even allowed to call her that anymore) didn’t hurt herself. Mei stood among the broken pieces, her face curiously empty. Gone was the warmth from her frame. 

“Mei?”

Mei finally spoke, brusque and cold. “I think you should leave."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By punklobster.  
Prompt: Please
> 
> (This is a flashback)

Harumi was no saint. Though sometimes she wondered if she was just based on her years of self-restraint alone. Just your friendly neighborhood best friend, Harumin! 

“Please,please,please-”

She wasn’t feeling very saintly right at this moment, not when her <strike>married</strike> best friend was begging her to fuck her-

“Please, Harumin, _please- _”

Nothing friendly about the way Harumi was pushing aside Yuzu’s underwear in her haste to fulfill the request, sinking her fingers into her wonderfully molten center. Harumi moaned in relief, breathless. She was probably more excited than Yuzu herself, keyed up from years of holding back, no more, _no more _-

Fingers clutched at her shoulders, shuddering breath in her ear. “ _Harumin _,” Yuzu breathed like she was saying her name for the first time. Like having Harumi’s fingers buried in her cunt was the catalyst Yuzu needed to realize that her best friend loved her more than a friend should. 

There was a moment of stillness as they both caught their breath and waited. Harumi waited for Yuzu to make her stop. And she would. Christ, she would- 

But then Yuzu was pulling her closer- _closer!_

The darker, not so friendly side of Harumi was overcome with the heady feeling of validation. She could’ve cried-

But she had a certain request to fulfill.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is by Sappho82

Aihara Mei was wearing her wedding gown.

Her beautiful white dress that she wore on the happiest day of her life. The day she married Yuzu, the love of her life. She'll never forget her wedding day for the rest of her life, even if she lived for a hundred years. All their family and closest friends were there, fully accepting them and celebrating their love. The most important people in her life bore witness to their union.

The most cherished memory from that day of course was Yuzu. The way she looked as she walked down the aisle, looking like love and beauty personified. She felt her heart soar as the blonde approached. Against the most difficult odds, they stood there to be wed.

Her mind wandered back to an earlier memory, on another day she wore another wedding dress. She was crying as she sat on the floor of a dressing room in a bridal store, her face in her hands. Outside chatting with the shopkeeper, Yuzu was also wearing a wedding gown, blissfully unaware that Mei was engaged to a man.

She felt like her world was ending that day. But eventually her life was turned around, and she didn't end up in an arranged marriage, all because Yuzu _came_ for her. She rescued her like they were in some kind of fairy tale. And then she got her happily ever after.

Except the fairy tales never went into what happens _after._

Here she was, wearing a wedding gown for the third time in her life. This time was much like the first. She was crumpled on the floor, crying.

She wrapped her arms around herself, around her beautiful wedding gown, identical to the one Yuzu wore on their wedding day. Heaving sobs wracked her chest, anguished cries pouring from her mouth.

How could Yuzu do this? How could she throw it all away?

Everything they had gone through when they were younger…most people would never have to experience in order to be with the person that they love. Yuzu fought so hard for her. Yuzu fought with everything she had in order to secure their love.

Mei pressed both hands to her chest, hoping to soothe the incredible ache. She had been crying so hard and so long, it scared her. Breathing was difficult.

She struggled unsteadily to her feet. She should call someone… Her first thought was her mother, but rejected it out of hand. Ridiculous. Himeko, then. In the end, her childhood best friend proved to be the most loyal person she knew.

Catching sight of herself in the mirror, Mei paused. She looked pitiful. Hair a mess, tear-streaked cheeks, and wearing the dress she wore to the person who cheated on her.

"With her bestfriend!" Mei shrieked, then doubled over in a fresh round of hiccupping sobs.

She wasn't quite sure why she put on the wedding gown. She was tearing through their closet, ripping out Yuzu's clothes from the hangers, intending to throw it out the front door, or burn it, rip it into shreds…when she came across their wedding gowns in the back row of the closet.

Maybe she wanted to remember the happiest day in her life, on the day of her worst.

Mei continued to hunt for her phone. She was in the living room when she heard a sound by the front door. Stepping closer, she heard Yuzu say behind the door, "Mei, please, can we just talk?"

A glass vase smashing against the door was Mei's response.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter by Ja55

“So, can we get this over with?” Harumi fidgeted, the awkward silence finally getting to her. 

She looked at the banana split in front of her that was just delivered by the waitress a moment ago. The sundae was starting to melt, blending with the chocolate syrup. It was a warm day, the weather was getting hotter, as summer was just around the corner, and she could hear the ice in her juice stirring, melting quicker than usual.

“Prez..” Harumi tried again, her discomfort showing.

“Why?” Mei asked in a low voice, it was barely audible. Her hands clenched the seat, trying to stop herself from crying. It was the last thing she wanted to do, especially in front of the younger Taniguchi.

But the sound on Mei’s voice broke all of the walls Harumi had been trying to put up all day. It was the first time she had ever heard her this vulnerable. This hurt. This broken. 

She dreaded this day, the moment it happened. And here they were, two women on the opposite sides, tethered to the same person. The same person they both love. 

“I love her.” Harumi professed, her jaw clenched, trying her best to stay strong. She was in the wrong, she knew this as a fact. It was something that she wished could have been different. If only she didn’t help Yuzu orchestrate the big confession, would things have changed? If only she had confessed to Yuzu then, would she be the one married to her now?

“She is _my _wife.” Mei snapped, her emotions finally boiling over. Hearing her wife’s best friend, whom she had also trusted confess her feelings for Yuzu, pushed her over the edge.

Harumi’s head snapped back, like she was slapped in the face. The overwhelming feeling of love she felt for Yuzu, was outweighed by the simple fact that she was just a third party. She bit her lip, stopping it from quivering. 

Who in their right mind would want to be a mistress? To be a home wrecker? Harumi thought. And yet here she was, a mistress. A home wrecker.

“I’m sorry I caused you this pain. I really am.” Harumi’s voice quivered, her embarrassment to what she has become drowning her. But she held her chin up, knowing that she was more than what this situation has made her to be. “But I am _not _sorry that I love her.”

“You _don’t _have the right to.” Mei said through gritted teeth. 

“I don’t. I know I don’t.” 

“Then why did you!”

“Because you _weren’t there _! Did you know what was happening to Yuzu? What she has been through? She has been crying her eyes out for months on end, and you were barely at home. I know, I don’t have the right. And I know what we did was wrong. But Mei, you said so yourself, she is _your _wife. Not a roommate you can ignore when you want to.” Harumi clenched her fists on the table, her knuckles going white.

“I’m sorry, Mei.” Harumi said again, her eyes finally looking up at Mei’s. “What happened was wrong. And I know how much Yuzu has regretted it. I wish things were different, but they aren’t.” She wiped away her tears and stood up, picking up her bag. 

She stopped and looked back, “I’m leaving the country, so you don’t have to worry. But Yuzu married _you _. She _chose _you. So be a wife to her too. Please, I beg you.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter by Sappho82  
Prompt: teaching each other something

Mei met Yuzu in a café far from their apartment. The married couple sat by a window facing the street, the late afternoon sun casting a warm orange glow over their round two-person table. Two mugs of tea and a plate of pastries sat untouched between them.

"Yuzu," Mei began, her wife's name soft and tender on her tongue. "You've taught me so much. I've spent a good part of my life studying and learning, but no one has taught me as much as you have."

Yuzu raised her head to meet Mei's eyes across the table, a tremulous smile on her lips.

"You taught me how to confront my feelings. Heck, you taught me that it all right for me to _have_ feelings." Mei's gaze slid away towards the open window, and she smiled wistfully as she recalled their first two years of high school. "You accepted me with all my flaws and emotional issues and my difficult personality."

Yuzu reached across the table and covered Mei's hand with hers. "Hey. I loved you. Back then, I loved you completely, emotional issues and all. I love you now."

Mei used the pad of her thumb to dab at a tear that was threatening to spill from the side of her eye. Throat tight, she continued, "When you came for me when I was about to get married to Udagawa-san, you taught me how to be brave. You taught me that I deserve my own happiness. And I knew that happiness was with you."

Yuzu made a sound that was a cross between a pleased laugh and choked sob. She wanted to come around the little table and throw her arms around her wife. These last few weeks had been so hard.

"You taught me how to be in a relationship. I know we learned together what it meant to be girlfriends…but you taught me how to love." Mei met Yuzu's gaze again, both their eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"You taught me how to love, too." Yuzu slid her hand under to clasp her wife's hand. "You were my first love, my _only_ love," she emphasized. For the millionth time since she slept with Harumi, Yuzu cursed herself for betraying Mei's trust. And for making her wife think she loved anyone else but her.

Mei squeezed her wife's hand in acknowledgement. "Yuzu, thank you for everything that you've taught me."

Yuzu swallowed. Panic and sorrow clawed at her heart.

"But now we have to teach other how to let go."


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter by d_wolpertinger.  
Prompt: relaxing

Mei felt the desperate need in Yuzu, as the blonde clutched her hand. She was asking for forgiveness, for a second chance but a shattered heart cannot be so easily put back together.

It was oddly relaxing, as everything in Mei's world went back to black, erased of color. She took solace in the returning familiarity of it, sitting up straighter in her chair. It was comforting. Nothing could faze her anymore because Yuzu was nothing more than a broken promise. She had fallen so far into this abyss that not even the tormented expression on the other girl's face - with tears streaming down her cheeks, her body shaking, and her breathing coming out in ragged whimpers - brought forth any sort of emotion. Sitting across from her, Mei felt nothing, she was so far removed. Light didn't matter anymore when darkness was so homecoming.

“Thank you, for showing me how to love someone,” the Aihara heir's voice didn’t waver, while she gently pulled her hand back and out of the blonde's grasp. Yuzu's fingers were trembling.

"Mei, please~" Yuzu tried to grasp at invisible strands of hope but the girl's hand remained where it was. She watched with a quivering bottom lip as Mei removed the ring from her slender finger with ease. Her look narrowed, piercing like the cold touch of ice, while placing the ring on the table, erecting a wall in between them. Maybe Mei did feel one thing as she interjected over Yuzu's cries.

“-and reminding me how to hate.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter by Ja55  
Prompt: feature a character you haven't before

As the sun set, casting a majestic hue of violet on orange and red, it signalled that another day has passed. 

And like any other day, Udagawa glanced at the room, doing his routinary final check for the night. He closed the lights and flipped the ‘closed’ sign, before locking his cafe. 

Summer was ending and he could already feel a cold bite in the air, a promise that autumn was just around the corner. He tugged his collar as he walked to keep his neck warm, having forgotten to bring a scarf. 

This was how his normal day would end. He would close the cafe and walk home. Alone. 

It was not like it ever bothered him that he was single. In fact, he was more at peace, knowing that his life was his own now. He was no longer obligated by his family to do anything he did not want to do.

After the fiasco of his engagement to Mei Aihara, his family had finally accepted that arranged marriage does not equate to forming a successful union, much less a successful business arrangement. This simply was not how the new generation worked.

But on some nights, his thoughts could not help but wonder. What if Yuzu had not gone out of her way and confessed? What if he did get married with Mei? What if…

A mix of sigh and groan escaped his lips, for he knew where these thoughts were going. He hastened his steps, wanting to get home quicker so he could shut away these thoughts and lock them in forever. Or maybe even just for that night. But like a man who keeps struggling in the quicksand, his thoughts devoured him faster.

He was still in love with Mei. 

He hadn’t really planned on falling in love with her back then. Who does? 

It just _happened _. He had found himself enamored with the grace and beauty that is Mei Aihara. Because it was an arranged marriage, he wanted to tread lightly during his engagement. His plan was to get to know his fiance, like a true gentleman would. After all, they were supposed to have their whole lives to spend together.

But it was all too good to be true. And the funny thing about it was, _no one ever_ asked how he felt when everything went down. Not when he got engaged, and not even when it was called off. 

It was like he was a piece of a puzzle that didn’t fit anywhere.

He took a deep breath, steeling his nerves. After all the years, he knew how to get out of this hole.

Every time he would think of the what ifs with Mei, the brightest set of green eyes would invade his mind. 

Yuzu. The girl who won Mei’s heart. And the girl whom Udagawa respected the most. 

If he had not known Yuzu, he may have thought differently. But he knew what Yuzu had gone through. And he knew that Mei was meant for Yuzu, as Yuzu was meant for Mei. 

He just wished his heart would finally understand this and move on. 

As he opened his door, his phone chimed with a new message. He opened it, expecting another one of those spam ads. His brow furrowed when he saw the sender, and quickly opened to read it.

_‘Aihara Mei had asked for a divorce from Aihara Yuzu.’_

“Fuck me.”


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter by punklobster  
Prompt: relaxing

Harumin was ready for another night in. She had her sweet and salty snacks, and her Netflix account queue filled with sad romcoms that would surely make her cry. Having moved overseas, she found herself in another situation where she ended up blending into the crowds, going with the flow of life rather than making a big splash. It reminded her of her early high school days where she hid her true self away for self-preservation. 

The rabbit holes of her thoughts were all too easy to fall into, and she hastened her clicking through her queue choices. Her cell phone vibrated in the corner of her vision, and she took a glance at it, expecting a robocall or something of the sort. The name on the screen made her still blood rush 0-60 in .2 seconds. 

How odd it was, that even Yuzu’s name seemed to light up the room. Holding her breath, Harumin let it ring and ring. They haven’t spoken to each since Yuzu told her she had to tell Mei of their shooting star of an affair. When the call went to voicemail, Harumi released the breath she’d been holding. What on earth did Yuzu want from her? 

The second time the phone vibrated, Harumi jumped to answer it before the first ring even ended. “Yeah?” she sounded much too casual than her racing heart lead on. God, she really couldn’t help herself, could she? 

“... Harumin?” Yuzu sounded surprised that she’d picked up, and hearing her best friend’s voice after so long did more things to her heart than a million sad romcoms. “H-hey. How are you?” 

Harumi hugged her knees to her chest, cradling the phone against her face. “Why are you calling me, Yuzuchi?” 

Yuzu was quiet on the other end, and Harumi wished she could see her face. The blonde was so expressive she could never hide what she was thinking. The silence was foreign from her. 

“I…” Yuzu started, her voice hitching. “Mei, um. She wants a divorce, I…” Harumi’s heart sank at the wavering of Yuzu’s tone. “I, I don’t know what to do, Harumin…” 

“Yuzuchi,” Harumi interjected softly, her own eyes glistening. “I can tell you what you shouldn’t be doing.” 

“What?”

If they were together, Harumi would flick the blonde on the forehead. “You shouldn’t be calling your mistress, stuuuupid.” 

The line went quiet again, only filled with occasional hiccup from a clearly distressed Yuzu. “I hate this,” Yuzu murmured, her voice faint. 

“I know, Yuzuchi.”

“You're my best fucking friend, and I fucked that up too! Fuck!” Yuzu cursed, her roller coaster of emotions shooting her through anger.

“Phrasing.” 

“I lost the two most important people to me, and it’s all my fault. It's all my--” Yuzu was spiraling and Harumi couldn’t help reaching out. 

“Hey, hey, hey,” Harumi said in her best soothing Mama Harumin voice. “You plan on getting Mei back, right?” 

“Um… yes?” Yuzu responded hesitantly. Harumi raised her brows at that. 

“You wanna try that again?” Harumi prompted. 

The other side went quiet again, gathering herself. When Yuzu spoke next, it was with more of an edge. 

“Yes,” Yuzu breathed. “She’s my wife. I have to get her back.” 

“Then you know what to do, don’t you? Like, not come running back to the home wrecker for comfort?” Harumi chuckled humorlessly. 

Yuzu was quick to answer that. “Harumin, you know I don’t think of you like that.”

“But its what happened, right?” Harumi squeezed at her knees. 

“What happened was my fault! I’m the one who asked for it!” 

“I wanted it too.” 

“But-!”

“Yuzuchi!” Harumi interrupted more harshly. The last thing she needed right now was her kindness. It just made everything worse. The knowledge that even separated from her wife, Yuzu still choosing Mei was going to drive her up the walls in her isolation. She was at her rope’s end. Any attention Yuzu gave her a needle digging into the skin, tattooing anguish into her. “Please. Don’t call me again,” Harumi begged. 

The ensuing silence between them was like a black hole, swallowing their breaths. 

“I miss you,” Yuzu whispered so brokenly that Harumi couldn’t bear it any longer. She hung up the phone and tossed it away in favor of screaming into her pillow. Her weeks away from Yuzuchi, attempting to forget and relax undone with three damningly selfish words. 

“I miss you too, stuuuupid!” Harumi cried into her pillow.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter by Sappho82  
Prompt: fairy tale

A gust of wind blew through the tree-lined street as Yuzu watched the entrance gates to Aihara Academy. She crossed her arms against the cold, wishing she had worn something warmer than her lightweight trench coat. She could feel it in the air; winter was around the corner.

Aside from her inadequate outerwear, the reason she was freezing was because she had been standing out in the street for several hours now. As she watched high school students come out of the entrance gates, Yuzu recalled the time when she herself was wearing the Aihara Academy uniform.

That's when it all began, wasn't it? Yuzu would never forget the day she first walked through those gates and had a heated confrontation with the student council president because of her flagrant disregard for the school dress code. A rueful grin curled her lips when she recalled the even more explosive confrontation when they discovered they were stepsisters later that night.

The rest was history. From the tumultuous months of grappling with their attraction to each other, the struggle to hide their 'forbidden' relationship from their family and friends, to the dark period when Mei left their home.

Looking back at it now, it all seemed like some kind of fairy tale. Mei was set to marry someone she didn't love out of a sense of duty and obligation, but she rode in on a white horse (Mitsuko's motorcycle) and _saved_ the princess. Then they _lived happily ever after._

Night pressed in, painting the sky black and covering alleyways and corners in shadow. Yuzu continued to stand outside in the street. Waiting in the dark. Alone.

It wasn't helpful to dwell on it, and maybe she wasn't being fair to Mei, but this situation is what caused the breakdown of their fairy tale. Mei working late into the night, consumed by her duties as Chairwoman of the Academy. They both understood that Mei had to work twice as hard to prove herself as deserving of the position.

But after a while Mei didn't come home until after midnight. There were days when Yuzu barely saw her wife at all, and the only visible signs that they were married and living together was Mei's dry cleaning delivered every 4 days and her shoes by their front door.

Yuzu swiped at the tear that tracked down her cheek.

Clearly, Mei had her share of the blame in all this, but she was the one who provided the spark that lit the powder keg of their shaky marriage.

And blew it wide open, exposing all the shortcomings and failures in their marriage, all stemming from Mei's neglect. All it took was one moment of weakness on her part to make it all come crashing down. Their castle on a cloud.

* * *

Across the street, a tall figure stepped out of the entrance gates and into the circle of light cast by a lamp post.

Yuzu sprang into action and ran across the street. "Mei!"

A car slammed on its brakes and laid on the horn, barely missing the blonde.

Mei glanced up and locked eyes with Yuzu who was frantically trying to get around the line of cars that obstructed her path.

Mei's eyes were cold and indifferent, with no trace of warmth for her wife. Yuzu wondered if the woman recognized her at all. "Mei! Please, I have something to say to you!"

Before Yuzu could reach the sidewalk, the chairwoman of Aihara Academy entered the waiting car. It sped off as Yuzu stumbled to the curb, still calling out her wife's name.

* * *

Yuzu slipped off her shoes after she entered the apartment, taking care not to make noise that would wake her mother and father. They were kind enough to let her stay with them, the least she could do was not be a burden.

Yuzu felt a bone-deep exhaustion that made her want to collapse in the middle of the floor and cry, but she dragged herself to the kitchen.

But she couldn't give up. She realized that people had to fight to keep the happy ending of their fairy tale.

As she was pulling out some leftover curry rice from the fridge, a manila envelope on top of the kitchen table caught her attention. Stepping closer, Yuzu saw that it was addressed to her.

A cold feeling of dread settled in the pit of her stomach.

Ripping open the envelope, Yuzu pulled out the contents with shaking hands.

Mei was serving her with divorce papers.

The anguished cry that rang in the apartment woke up Ume and Shou.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter by Ja55  
Prompt: fairy tale

“Yuzu, do you need this to be on this side?” Mei checked out the table setting, and thought it was best to ask the one person whose voice mattered to her.

Yuzu was a few meters away from Mei, but regardless of the distance, she knew if Mei needed her. Cheesy, yes. But it was all true. 

Even if she was talking to someone else, or if she was in another room, or a few meters away, her ‘Mei meter’ would just go off. And she would know, if her wife needed her.

“Yeah, babe. That part is perfect.” Yuzu agreed, giving a thumbs up sign. The painting of Sappho and Erinna in a Garden at Mytilene hang at the center of their soon-to-be-opening pop-up restaurant. It was a bit freaky, being surrounded by historical arts combined with the newly installed ones by the up and coming artists d.wolpertinger and angel0wonder. But putting it altogether, the room was just magical.

For Yuzu, their marriage felt like a walk in the park. Things just somehow worked out for them both. After being married for a few years, it still felt like a fantasy for her. Being with Mei, making their ambitions and dreams happen together was like a fairy tale. One she would never want to wake up of.

“What about this?” Yuzu cautioned, her hands adorning a black charred statue of a naked man, with a flute.

“As much as that one looks cute for you, no.” Mei said simply, shaking her head at the absurdity of what Yuzu was carrying. She didn’t really understand where all these “boho, chic antiques” items were coming from.

The place they chose as their spot for their first ever restaurant was at the heart of the Tokyo food market. It was a new venture, and so many things could go wrong. During their audution for the “Billion Yen Menu” show, Yuzu and Mei were asked of the tough, but necessary questions on how they planned to execute the dream that they had for the casual Japanese cuisine. Although they did not get in, the experience helped the blonde understand herself better. That cooking is what she wanted to do, and sharing it with the rest of the world felt the right thing to do.

Although Yuzu knew this wasn’t part of Mei’s dream. But because this was hers, she felt in her hearts of heart that Mei was in it because of her. And she could not describe the happiness she was in. It was just all too overwhelming for her, but at the same humbling. They were in it _together_.

“I want you to try something, babe.” Yuzu took Mei’s hand and led her to the kitchen. She opened the oven, and she took out the apple pie she had been baking.

The look Mei gave her could only be described as that of a proud wife. Seeing Yuzu in this environment, in her natural element, it was just so mesmerizing for Mei.

“Yuzu.” Mei’s beautiful sweet voice called out, and Yuzu’s heart melted. “I love you. _Forever _.”

Yuzu eyes opened as the stream of light entered the room. Bewildered at where she was, she scanned her eyes around the room and the same realization would hit her, like it would for the last few months. She was in her old apartment with her Mama and Papa.

She tried to move and she realized she had been clutching on a manila envelope tightly. A small sob escaped her lips. Gone was the fairy tale life she had with Mei, and these divorce papers she got last night were the proof.


End file.
